Gene expression in male and female smokers

Smoking is the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Cohort epidemiological studies have demonstrated that women are more vulnerable to cigarette-smoking induced diseases than their male counterparts, however, the molecular basis of these differences has been remained unknown to date. In this study, we explored if there were differences in the gene expression patterns between male and female smokers, and how these patterns might reflect different gender-specific responses to the stress of smoking. Global gene expression was measured in the peripheral blood cells of 12 each male and female smokers and non-smokers using the Agilent one-color workflow and human whole genome microarrays.